Canadian food group SunOpta has emphasised the importance of tapping into consumer interest in healthy eating after reporting higher first-quarter sales and earnings.
SunOpta said its revenue and earnings for the three months to 30 March were hit “record” levels for the first quarter.
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CEO Steve Bromley said: “We continue to believe that interest in healthy eating is a key long term global trend and that we are well positioned to capitalise on future industry growth via our integrated natural and organic foods platform.”
Sales were up 17.9% at US$333.5m. The increase in revenues was led by continued growth in SunOpta’s consumer packaged food, increased demand for organic raw materials in Europe and North America and new “value-added” ingredient business, it said.
Operating income hit US$12.1m, against US$10.7m a year earlier. Increased volume and margins on organic raw materials, higher volumes of consumer products including aseptic beverages and healthy snacks, as well as higher sales and margins of value-added ingredients, helped SunOpta’s operating income.
Net earnings climbed to a record US$6.6m, compared to US$5.1m in the first quarter of 2013.
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